AI this week gave the contestants the opportunity to sing a song from the year of their birth, and to have a bit of public embarassment at their baby pictures being shown (plus delightful interviews with their parents).

This also was a superb night for one contestant in particular, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Here’s the run-down.

• Danny Gokey – Stand By Me – I’m ready to stop talking about him. Why is he wearing a wedding ring? Hated the arrangement. Don’t like the arrogance. Don’t like glasses set number 14.
• Kris Allen – All She Wants To Do Is Dance – Why is he out in the audience, that’s never a good sign. Interesting arrangement, good guitar work, good energy. Judges didn’t get it.
• Lil Rounds – What’s Love Got To Do With It – I was really, REALLY hoping she was going to diva it up, but she marched out on stage as if she was impersonating Tina, including the leg moves and struts. Good vocals, she looked great, but the judges thought it was copy-cat.
• Anoop Desai – True Colors – Wonderful, melodic, emotional. Great job.
• Scott MacIntyre – The Search Is Over – On stage with a guitar this time instead of his comfortable piano, and it showed. Singer/songwriter needs to be at the piano. Painful (I mean REALLY painful) high note became a shout.
• Allison Iraheta – I Can’t Make You Love Me – I love this song, I love her look, I love her voice.
• Matt Giraud – Part Time Lovers – Very good rendition of this hit, nice use of hat to cover the distracting forehead blemish. Great arrangement, good vocals, judges loved it.
• Adam Lambert – Mad World - And here’s the stunner of the night. The stunner wasn’t that he sang it flawlessly (which he did), but that Simon gave him a standing ovation. The only word I can think of to describe Adam is “brilliant”.

Out this week: Scott MacIntyre. I guess looking back he was the weakest contestant over all, and I think moving away from being a piano-based singer did him in – that and the screeching vocal.